U.S. President Donald Trump announced plans to impose a 25% reciprocal tariff on South Korea; however, an accompanying administrative order released by the White House later indicated a rate of 26%. In response, the White House noted, "We must adhere to the administrative order."
At the announcement of the reciprocal tariff on the 2nd (local time), a panel presented by President Trump displayed a rate of 25% applicable to South Korea. While President Trump did not directly mention the reciprocal tariff rate for South Korea during the event, the tariff rates for other major countries were announced based on the figures shown on this panel. The tariff rate table released by the White House on X (formerly Twitter) also indicated South Korea's rate as 25%.
However, in the subsequently released administrative order appendix, South Korea's reciprocal tariff rate was noted as 26%. It has been reported that the White House's position is to adhere to the figure denoted in the administrative order appendix (26%).
The reason for the discrepancy between the reciprocal tariff rates displayed on the panel used by President Trump and in the administrative order appendix has not been revealed.
The administrative order appendix also indicated that countries such as India, Switzerland, South Africa, the Philippines, Pakistan, Serbia, and Botswana have tariff rates that are 1 percentage point higher than those presented on the panel held by President Trump, in addition to South Korea.